MAT MAITLAND

With his pop and slightly surrealist collage work, image-maker, video artist and art director Mat Maitland already has fans in the likes of Kenzo, Basement Jaxx and Beck, and is definitely one to watch.

06 nov 2014

WHAT ARE PEOPLE OBSESSING ABOUT RIGHT NOW?
The mesmerising collage work by Mat Maitland, that’s what. The image-maker, video artist and art director has worked with everyone from Kenzo and Printemps in Paris to Basement Jaxx and Beck. He was also responsible for the cover of XScape, a posthumous album of Michael Jackson’s unreleased tracks.

“My aesthetic is pop with overlapping surrealist and cinematic tones. I love to abstract images and place them back together in a different context, which conjures up new ways of looking at things. Print and motion work are my favourite mediums. In different and yet complementary ways, they allow me to explore new dimensions”

HOW DOES ONE DREAM UP SUCH FANTASTICAL IMAGES?
Mat was obsessed with music, fashion and magazines from a very young age in St Albans, England. Now based in London, he admits that references from his adolescence still fuel and guide his work, but there are also surprising inspirations that pop up every now and then.

“Sometimes it can be a wave of nostalgia or déjà vu, a dream you quickly forget when you wake up but desperately try to freeze in your mind. In a more tangible way, it also comes from absorbing a variety of creative arts such as cinema, music, fashion and fine art, but I don’t like studying things too closely as it can get in the way of your own path.”

WHY DOES THE FASHION WORLD IN PARTICULAR LOVE HIS COLLAGES?
Fun, imaginative, a feast for the eyes, a riot of colour… the list is endless, really. The rejuvenated label Hunter, for example, recently enlisted Mat to create a film for the backdrop of their S/S 2015 show at London Fashion Week.

“My work transports the viewer to a completely different realm. My collages, whether in print or motion work, are a little divorced from the more traditional world of fashion. There’s a playful nature to them, but also a sophistication.”

SO WHAT’S NEXT FOR THIS CREATIVE DYNAMO?
The sky is probably the limit, but in the meantime:

“I’m currently working on some music projects (as art director and image-maker) for new artists such as Josef Salvat and Meanwhile. I also like doing fashion editorials (stills): it’s a nice break from the motion work and another form of creative release.”

You can check out Mat Maitland’s work on his site and follow him on Instagram @matmaitland.